7 G Suite Security Mistakes That Admins Should Avoid

While Microsoft Office 365 still ranks as the number one cloud-based work productivity tool, G Suite is also making news today as most businesses are migrating their database online. If you’re someone who wants to complete tasks online using G Suite, then there is no other safe way to protect your company data than to utilize the tool properly. Did you know that over 5 million businesses in the world are using G Suite and they are growing every year by a hundred and sixteen percent?

The growing influence of Google as a search engine has paved the way for business owners to also use the apps G Suite offers. However, no matter how Google pours out everything to ensure security when using the apps, there are still pitfalls that may affect the G Suite user experience.

Here are some of them:

1.Making the Admin’s G Suite Account on Autopilot

One of G Suite’s most common feature is they offer a way of managing several built-in accounts in one registered business. The Cloud Identity feature advertised by Google and other third-party identity-protector companies helps strengthen the management feature. Nevertheless, there are times that turning them “on” may be easier than thinking about the repercussions it may result in.

One great example is the creation of unique and strong passwords. Of course, it’s a must nowadays to have a strong password since many hackers are a threat to security. However, forcing clients to replace their passwords every now and then may actually cause more harm than good. According to NIST, they actually advise not to change your passwords regularly as people tend to tweak their existing password slightly, making it similar to what they already have, which results in the new password being weak.

With that in mind, it might also be tempting to turn on multi-factor authentication in your accounts. No matter how safe we think they are, some two-way authentication methods are not helpful at all.

2.Leaving Third Party Apps with Permissions to Access

G Suite’s capability to integrate and connect with third-party apps and software is a superb feature. As a matter of fact, the said cloud-based work productivity tool has a long list of apps that are compatible with what G Suite has to offer. Thus, providing more functionality to the already functional tool. However, giving permission to these third-party apps may mean opening doors for attackers to hack your system.

3.Failing to Notice and Solve Data Leak Cases

One of the several ways why G Suite is best for businesses is because it presents many ways to collaborate with others. Although this may be an advantage for the tool, it may also turn into a disadvantage, as it can also be a channel for security risks. If you’re a G Suite Admin and you’re afraid of this, you can turn on the data loss prevention feature in G Suite apps like Gmail, Google Docs, Drive, Slides, and Sheets. It may also function with the help of a warning message to lessen the cases of data leakage.

4.Trust Google with Your Security Audit Log

Those who are using Gmail for a long time now may actually think that their files are safe with Google. However, this mindset isn’t always applicable when it comes to security measures. Given the huge number of data shared across different Google Apps, holding off security audit log isn’t something that Google can assure you. As a matter of fact, the longest that they can retain your security log is 6 months.

5.Not Training New Users Thoroughly on How to Use the Tool

Businesses using Google Suite Apps may have forgotten that not all employees have used it before. New employees who brag about using Microsoft Office 365 for the last 10 years of their working experience may be shy to ask for help in navigating the site. Train your people thoroughly to avoid chaotic outcomes in your database.

6.Not Being Able to Know What the Apps Are About

The mere aspect of the apps being new to the employees may crumble the pillars of your database security. Every employee must know what an app does and how it can automate processes to make sure they’re not wasting time doing things manually and not risking the confidentiality of the files in the apps.

7.Not Suggesting What Google Can Improve

What most people are oblivious about is Google actually encourages you to suggest features that Google may offer in their next line of apps. You can actually call them on your phone, start a chat, and even send them an email with your suggestions.

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